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Office at Springbrook (photo: AJ Morey)

About Listen Play Counseling

At Listen Play Counseling, I believe that
  • to listen is to understand, validate, care
  • to play is a child's work
  • to play is a forgotten skill for many adults
  • relationships make strength, beauty, resilience--the weave of the basket, the harmonies and rhythms of music, wherever people gather
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Todd Hedinger, LPC (photo: AJ Morey)
Listen Play Counseling was founded by Todd Hedinger, LPC in 2015.
  • PhD from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 2000
  • Licensed Professional Counselor (Virginia Dept. of Health Professions, Board of Counseling, license number 0701005713)
  • Certified in eagala (equine assisted counseling services--see "Processes," below: because of rash actions by the eagala Board of Directors in 12/2020, including dissolution of the Ethics Committee, I am re-evaluating my association with eagala)
  • Member of International Association of Trauma Professionals
  I first started provided counseling services in 1987. I've served children, teens, adults, couples, and families, in clinics, homes, schools, community mental health centers, and crisis settings.
Philosophy
Listen Play Counseling
The counseling relationship is the foundation for positive growth and learning. Through listening and play, I get to know you. Over time, you learn and grow yourself into the change you want to be. Therapy can be hard, it's true, but in a context of play, trust, care, and belief, much good can take place to offset the hard stuff, to make it easier, to make it worthwhile--to grow in joy and meaning!
Processes
Listen Play Counseling
For kids, play is the process. Play therapy follows the child's interests without trying to set an agenda. This type of therapy is open and accepting. The goals are to help children improve their abilities to express their needs, and to help caregivers learn to follow their children--to better understand and appreciate the world as their child sees and experiences it. Broadway, Woodstock locations.

For adults, listening is the process. My listening is informed (Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy will always be in the background). At its heart, listening therapy is the same as play therapy--open and accepting, with the goals of helping people improve their ability to express their needs, and to live more genuinely, with intention ... to be able to say who you are and what you choose. Broadway, Woodstock locations.
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Through my PARTNERSHIP with Rocky Hill Stables in Linville, Virginia, I provide equine-assisted psychotherapy to individuals, couples, and families via eagala methods*. Talk therapy isn't for everyone, and there are tremendous benefits to getting outside the office--in fresh air, at the barn, surrounded by nature. With equine specialist Barbara Robbins and her horses, we provide an experiential approach to therapy that helps people learn about themselves and grow in confidence. (Extra fees apply to this service.)

*PLEASE NOTE re: eagala: in 2020, the Board of Directors summarily dissolved the ethics committee without notifying membership; I learned of this action in 12/2020 and am now re-evaluating my connection with eagala. I plan to continue to provide equine-assisted service, using methods and training from the eagala model, but seeking an alternative certifying and ethical body in the meantime.